Highest Praise

Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest!’” (Luke 2:13-14, NKJV).

Have you ever taken a moment to imagine what that horizon full of angels must have looked like? I want to invite you to take an unrushed moment and do exactly that. Would you, with me, ask the Holy Spirit to breathe on your imagination? Would you ask Him to show you what He wants you to see in your mind’s eye? The Lord loves it when we ponder His stories and ask Him questions, like…

How many angels were there, Lord Jesus?

Did they fill up the entire visual field of the shepherds?

Did their brilliant light make it look nearly like daytime?

In what posture were they as they praised You?

When we do this, by His empowering, we can enter more fully into the story. It becomes alive to us. And how I love to enter into what He has for me in the story of the first Advent! How I love to imagine the energy of the angels’ jubilant praise that night!

Angels delight to worship and glorify God. I am convinced that when we put all of our heart and soul into praising Him, the angels around us can’t help but join in. There is something powerful released from Heaven when we engage our spirits this way.

That first Christmas night, the angels proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest!” You and I can join in that exultant praise this week, in the sanctuary of our own homes. When with your heart you look up to God… seated in the highest place above all else… and you put all the strength of your being into glorifying Him in that place… something transcendent happens. Your spirit connects into His presence in a way that lifts you up above your current circumstances. Your faith rises up and connects into the essence of who He is.

I believe that’s what the shepherds experienced that night. How their spirits must have leapt up, giving God the highest praise right along with the angels filling the air! And I believe that right now, our loving Father is inviting us to join in with all of heaven, praising Him for the magnificent gift of His Son…

Glory to God in the highest!

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When you took that moment to imagine the multitude of heavenly host, did you “see” something new about that glorious moment, that you hadn’t seen before?